Hi Jessica! Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel! Ooooh - a Holiday Trip to Walt Disney World Resort. Can I be adopted into your family? I promise to hold all bags and serve as a human map.
Wait times, travel times, and bus frequency of the
Walt Disney World Bus Transportation system all depend on a number of factors. Time of year, time of day, any resort road construction, even the bus stop you choose are all factors to consider. Generally speaking, buses run every 20 minutes, but they are not on a timetable the way city buses are to where anyone can say "the first bus picks up from this specific location at 8:03 a.m." I do have good news, though. During popular times of year, such as your visit, Disney deploys more buses, all of which have been outfitted with GPS tracking. There are even monitors at the resort hotel stops updating the arrival times of the next bus to each park.
Specifically for Disney's Port Orleans Resort - Riverside, all theme parks, water parks, and even Disney Springs are between 2.5 and 7 miles away from your resort hotel. Usually a 15 minute ride, plus a 20 minute wait for the bus, I would say if you're trying to get to a park for rope drop to be at the bus stop at least 45 minutes before said park opens, if not an hour. (The extra time is just in case the bus is taking a bit longer.) Pro Tip: this resort hotel has four bus stops. The first is near the lobby and the other three are around the various buildings. The buses will pick up in numerical order, and when a bus is full it goes on to its destination. Early in the morning multiple buses will make the same rounds at the same time, but later in the day it's easier to get a seat if you're waiting at stop number one rather than the one that's closer to your room building.
I hope this helps with your plans, Jessica, and we'll see you real soon!
~Kristen